Linked observed human activity on video to a user account

ABSTRACT

A system and method for linking observed human activity on video to a user account of a preferred embodiment that includes: through a computer vision monitoring system, detecting and tracking a human as a computer vision modeled person within an environment, the computer vision monitoring system being part of a computing platform managing a user interaction experience; through at least one associative mechanism, establishing an association between the computer vision modeled person and at least one associative element and thereby associating the computer vision modeled person and a user-record linked through the associative element; and directing the user interaction experience at least in part based on the combination of the modeled person and at least the user-record.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/911,311, filed on 24 Jun. 2020, which isContinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/015,180,filed on 21 Jun. 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/523,183, filed on 21 Jun. 2017, all of which areincorporated in their entirety by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the field of computer vision, andmore specifically to a new and useful system and method for personalizedinteractivity with a shared computer vision system.

BACKGROUND

Surveillance systems have applied basic object detection and facialrecognition for primitive forms of functionality. However, currentsurveillance systems use primitive understanding of detected people. Ifa surveillance system is even able to detect people, it will generallyonly identify the location of a person as a generic person. Facialrecognition can be used in limited situations but because of therecognition reliability, only a small number of people may be detectedthrough this. Additionally, facial recognition is currently vulnerableto adversarial attacks and so is not suitable for use in manysituations. This inability to understand the observed subjects providesa significant number of limitations to uses of such systems.

Additionally, large-scale applications involving computer vision are notin active use at scale. The existing solutions described above arepoorly suited for such applications. This contributes in part to thelack of rich user interactions driven by computer vision.

Thus, there is a need in the computer vision field to create a new anduseful system and method for linking observed human activity on video toa user account. This invention provides such a new and useful system andmethod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an exemplary implementation of asystem of a preferred embodiment;

FIGS. 2-4 are schematic representations of exemplary forms ofassociations;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of an exemplary implementation ofthe system applied across multiple humans in an environment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representation of a method of a preferredembodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart representation of a variations of establishingassociations;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic representations of exemplary variations ofestablishing an association with a device instance;

FIGS. 10A-10F are schematic representations of exemplary variations ofestablishing an association during a pairing process of a deviceinstance;

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of a sequence of associationmechanisms;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representation of attaching validation to anassociative element;

FIGS. 13-15 are schematic representations of coordinating with asecondary device; and

FIG. 16 is a flowchart representation of a variation of the methodapplied across multiple humans.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the embodiments of the invention is notintended to limit the invention to these embodiments but rather toenable a person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.

1. Overview

A system and method for linking observed human activity on video to auser account of a preferred embodiment functions to pair, synchronize,or otherwise associate a computer vision (CV) detected and monitoredperson or object to some other representative construct related to thatperson or object. The system and method may enable novel interactioncapabilities and/or enhanced user privacy and data control for advancedCV-based applications.

The system and method can be applied towards driving personalizedinteractivity within a shared CV monitoring system. This may enable richuser interaction experiences that are individually focused but driven inpart by CV monitoring systems distributed in a shared environment. Inparticular, the system and method can be used in large-scale CV-drivenapplications where CV-based modeling of people, objects, theenvironment, and interactions in that environment are used acrossindependent and personalized digital experiences of differentparticipants. For example, these CV-driven applications can be acrosslarge environments such as a grocery store, a mall, or any suitableenvironment that would depend on multiple camera imaging. Furthermore,such CV-driven interactivity may be enabled ad-hoc for people in theenvironment.

The association(s) established by the system and method can be between aCV-person, a user-record and or a user-account, and then preferably withsome other associative element. The additional associative element canbe a human (wherein direct or indirect properties of a person can beused to identify a person) and/or a computing device (e.g., a physicalcomputing device, and/or some application instance on a computingdevice). These associations can additionally be scoped to a particularenvironment or space and period of time. The system and method mayadditionally support operating with different types of association“topologies”.

A CV-person (i.e., a computer vision modeled person) as used hereincharacterizes a detected and optionally tracked physical person modeledand represented by a CV monitoring system. A CV-person may, or may not,have any personally identifying information or person-associatedmetadata. The CV-person will generally represent the presence of aperson in an environment and optionally the location, actions, activity,CV-derived properties, and/or other information based on imageprocessing. For example, a CV-person could have a tracked location orposition, body properties (e.g., pose, clothing, or other visualproperties), and/or other properties. CV-detected events, gestures orstates may additionally be detected in relationship to the CV-person andform part of the data model/representation of that physical person. Herea CV monitoring system characterizes an imaging system and/or processingsystem employing computer vision to facilitate the detection andtracking of objects, detecting actions, and performing other CV-basedoperations. Herein, the system and method is described as it applies toCV-based modeling of people, but a CV monitoring system may additionallyor alternatively model other entities or objects such as animals,vehicles, automated devices/robots, or other suitable objects.

A user-record as used herein characterizes a computer record that isassociated with a single human or being. A user-record can preferably beassociated with a CV-person to uniquely identify, track, and recordstate of the CV-person. A user-record will preferably include variousproperties. Properties of a user-record may include personalidentifiable information, but it may alternatively not include anyidentifiable information. A user-record in some implementations may alsoinclude payment information, user settings, user history, privilegesettings/permissions, and/or other information. Properties of auser-record may initially use default settings that are used asplaceholders until these properties can be updated. Properties may beupdated as a result of association with other elements or throughCV-based monitoring of the CV-person.

A user-record can additionally be used in modeling the state of anentity within a system, which will generally be directing in part adigital interactive experience. For example, in a variation of thesystem and method applied to automatic checkout powered by CV, theuser-record may be the record used to record the items selected forpurchase forming some.

A user-record can be an internal model of a human. As an internal modelof a human, the user-record could be an ephemeral user-record that ispreserved for essentially over the duration that the CV-person isdetected in the environment. For example, a user-record can be createdand updated for the duration that a shopper is present in a store.Additionally, a user-record may bridge the CV-modeling of a personacross non-continuous CV monitoring of a person. For example, a firstinstance of a CV-person monitored in one location at one particular timeperiod and a second instance of a CV person monitored at one locationand at second time period (e.g., there may be a gap in video capture asthe person enters an unmonitored area) could be associated with the sameuser-record. A user-record could additionally be persistent overmultiple visits or system sessions, wherein a user-record may bereestablished for a human over multiple visits to the environment. As aninternal model of a human, a user may not explicitly create nor havedirect access to manage the user-record. In one variation, theuser-record can be, include, or reference a user-account, where at leasta part of the user-record may be user managed. In some implementations,the system and method may operate with a unified concept of user-recordand user-account. In such an implementation, the user-record can be auser-account with user managed authentication credentials. In otherimplementations, verified user-accounts and ephemeral/anonymous useraccounts could be used in a similar manner. Other suitable user modelingcould similarly be applied.

A user-account as used herein characterizes an account in the systemthat can be accessed and manipulated by a user. A user-account willgenerally be accompanied with some authorization process such as ausername and password or other authentication credentials or process.The user-account may reference a user-account of an outside system suchas a social media platform. In the exemplary use case of the systemapplied to an automatic checkout, a user-account may be used to enable auser to register an application instance, edit payment methods, changeaccount settings, view shopping history, edit shopping lists, and/orperform other actions. These actions can be synchronized with theuser-account and can be performed outside of a CV-system, but canpreferably be leveraged by a CV-system when the system and methodassociates a CV-person and a user-account. In some variations, auser-account could be implemented as an optional associative element forhumans in the environment. CV-driven applications may handle humans withonly ephemeral user-records as well as humans with user-accounts.

In some variations, a user-record can optionally include or reference(through some link or association) a user-account. In the situationswhere the system and method can optionally use a user-account, somehumans will have only a user-record used in internally modeling stateand referencing CV-related data. These humans may not have auser-account. In this exemplary situation, some other humans will have auser-record that is associated with or is their user-account. In otherimplementations, only humans with explicitly created user-accounts maybe stored. Supporting both ephemeral/anonymous user-records anduser-accounts can have the benefit of enabling ad-hoc association of anew user-account with an existing user-record. For example, a user thatcreates a user account in the middle of a shopping trip can gain accessto their CV-based modeling (e.g., a checkout list for automatic orexpedited checkout) that was tracked through a previously anonymoususer-record.

As will be appreciated by one knowledgeable in the art, the exact datamodel architecture of such records can take many forms. Herein, auser-record will generally be used to reference the generic user-record,which may or may not have association to a user-account withauthentication credentials, user-account will generally be used insituations where there is a user-created record that the user is able toauthenticate into unless otherwise specified.

A human as used herein characterizes a human being with a uniqueidentity. A human is sometimes referred to as the user, customer,worker, or other human label where appropriate. In the exemplary usecase of the system applied to automatic checkout, a human can be someonewho is a shopper, a worker in the store, or is otherwise present in theenvironment. A human could similarly generalize to other living ornon-living entities such as farm animals, pets, vehicles, robots, andthe like. Herein, we will primarily reference humans but oneknowledgeable in the art would appreciate that the system and method arenot limited to use with humans.

A device instance as used herein characterizes a unique instantiation ofa stateful device present in the environment. A device instance in manycases is a computing device such as smart phone, a wearable computer, atablet, a personal computer, or a computing kiosk/station. A deviceinstance is preferably uniquely identifiable. In some cases, the deviceinstance is more specifically an application instance on a device suchas an application installed by a user. Here, instance is used todistinguish a unique installation and instantiation of an application ona particular device. Continuing with the use case of the system appliedto automatic checkout, the application instance can be an application ofthe automatic checkout service that a shopper can use to view theircurrently selected items, to complete checkout, to modify settings,and/or perform other tasks. In some instances, the system and method canfacilitate synchronizing the state of the application instance with theuser-record. A device instance can additionally be computing devicesaccessible within the environment such as a point of sale (POS) paymentkiosk, a help kiosk, or any suitable type of computing device.

An association as used herein is some variation of symbolic linking orconnecting of at least two associative elements selected from the set ofa CV-person, a user-record, user-account, a device instance, and/or ahuman. More preferably, the association is a three-element associationof a CV-person and a user-record with at least one of a user-account, adevice instance, and or a human. A CV-person is preferably detected andthen matched to a corresponding identifying associative element. Theidentifying associative element can be a device instance, human, or anidentifier of a user-account. The identifying associative element maythen be linked to a user-record. Arbitrary complex associationtopologies may be established as shown in FIG. 1.

An association that includes a human association as shown in FIG. 2 canprovide positive confirmation of that human. An association with a humancan be through biometric detection of the human through the CVmonitoring system. A human association could also be indirectlyestablished through biometric identification through adevice/application. A human association could additionally use otheridentifying properties of a human such as interaction patterns (e.g.,shopping patterns), clothing patterns, patterns in accompanying humans,and/or other properties.

An association that includes a device instance association as shown inFIG. 3 can establish state synchronization with the device and/orapplication. Interactions with an app can influence the CV monitoringsystem and similarly detected information from the CV monitoring systemcan be pushed to the device or application instance.

An association that includes a user-account as shown in FIG. 4 canestablish state synchronization with the user-account to leverage storeduser associated data and settings. Stored settings of an account caninfluence the CV monitoring system and similarly detected informationfrom the CV monitoring system can be used to update the user-account.

An association with a user-record preferably provides a level ofindirection between the CV-person and identifying associative elementsso that CV modeling updates can be resilient to delays in establishingan identifying association or changes in associations.

An association is preferably maintained during the duration of theCV-person (e.g., duration of a shopper shopping in a store). Theassociation is preferably maintained across multiple visits to multiplestores—the association will generally be reestablished for each visit.The system and method can facilitate the establishment and/orreestablishment of the association. An association can additionally beexpanded to include other associative elements. Elements of anassociation could however undergo permanent disassociation (e.g.,removing a device instance) or temporary disassociation (e.g.,disassociating a user-account for anonymous shopping during a singlevisit).

An association topology generally describes a collection of associationsto different associative elements. Different topologies may lendthemselves to different capabilities. Different interaction experiencesmay also depend on or benefit from particular types of topologies. Theassociation topology may additionally involve the type of associationthat was established. The type of association can be linked to differentlevels of identification confidence, privileges, or other aspects. Forexample, identification of a computing device using one technique may betreated differently from identification through another technique.Additionally, associations can be reinforced or occur at different timesand/or locations to affirm the correct association. Furthermore,understanding of associations can be applied longitudinally with themonitoring of a person, which is to say, an association established atone point in time could be applied to future occurrences orretroactively applied, even altering previous state based on the newassociation information. In viewing the interaction experience as beingbased around an association topology, the system and method couldadditionally be extended to providing shared digital experiences andinteractions for groups. In this way, multiple humans and/or multipledevices may have a shared digital experience. For example, a familyshopping together would be represented as multiple CV-people, but thosemodeled interactions may all be linked back to a shared familyuser-account.

The environment as used herein characterizes the site where a CVmonitoring system is installed and operational. The system and methodcan be made to work for a wide variety of environments. In a preferredimplementation, the environment is a shopping environment such as agrocery store, convenience store, micro-commerce & unstaffed store,bulk-item store, pharmacy, bookstore, warehouse, mall, market, and/orany suitable environment that promotes commerce or exchange of goods orservices. In alternate use cases, the environment can include ahousehold, an office setting, a school, an airport, a public/city space,a gym, and/or any suitable location. The environment can be a locallycontained environment but may alternatively be a distributed system withwide coverage.

The system and method may be used for any suitable video monitoringapplication. In particular, the system and method is for CV-basedcomputing applications, which may include automated self-checkout,inventory tracking, security surveillance, environmental event detectionand tracking, and/or other suitable applications.

Herein, automatic self-checkout is used as the main exemplaryapplication of the system and method, but any suitable application maybe used. Automatic self-checkout is primarily characterized by a systemor method that generates or maintains a checkout list (i.e., a virtualcart) during the shopping process of a customer (or group of customers)with the objective of knowing the possessed items when a customer leavesa store. An automatic checkout system may additionally automaticallycharge an account of a customer for the total of a checkout list (e.g.,predicted list of items selected for purchase). The automatic checkoutsystem could alternatively be used to expedite entry of items forpayment. The system and method as described herein can be used tosynchronize a CV-person and a resulting generated checkout list (asdetected in part or whole through the CV monitoring system) with auser-record, user-account, device instance, and/or a human. This couldthen be used to enable automatically charging of a stored paymentmethod, authorizing purchase of restricted items (e.g., alcoholicbeverages and the like), or execute other tasks.

The system and method may alternatively be used to account for theremoval of a good by a customer such as in a library, a rental store, awarehouse, or any suitable item storage facility and update anassociative element appropriately. The system and method mayalternatively be used to permit or restrict access to locations, tocharge for such access, to enable authentication with shared computingdevices, or for any use case. The system can be made to work for a widevariety of shopping environments such as grocery stores, conveniencestores, micro-commerce & unstaffed stores, bulk-item stores, pharmacies,bookstores, warehouses, malls, markets, and/or any suitable environmentthat promotes commerce or exchange of goods or services. The system andmethod can also be used in other situations or in other environments.

The system is primarily described as employing a network of multiplevideo monitoring nodes. The system could additionally be applied to asingle camera and optionally audio monitoring and may additionallyinclude other forms of sensing that may be used independently or incombination with video monitoring. These might include lidar, sonar,infrared, ultraviolet, radio frequency, capacitance, magnetic, scales,pressure, volume, climate sensing, and the like.

As one potential use, the system and method can be applied for managingpermissions within a CV-based computing application. The type ofassociation and method of establishing associations can be used inenabling or disabling different permissions. For example, establishingan association with a user-account with payment information can enablepermissions for automatic self-checkout where the user can simply walkout of a store. In another example, establishing an association to ahuman with confirmed age verification can enable permissions forpurchase of alcohol or other restricted products. Permissions may beused in managing other connected devices. For example, the system andmethod could be used as an authentication mechanism that alleviates auser from needing to provide login credentials when using a shareddevice. In another example, the system and method could use permissionsto automatically unlock a door for permitted humans.

As another potential use, the system and method can be applied forsynchronizing user-account data or application state to CV-basedmonitoring of a CV-person. For example, after establishing anassociation of a shopping application instance and a CV-person, ashopping list created on the application instance could then be used toinform the CV monitoring system on how to better monitor the CV-person.In another example, a checkout list may be created through monitoring ofa CV-person, that checkout list can be synchronized to an applicationinstance of the human after establishing an association with thatapplication instance. This may even be performed independent of the userhaving ever used the application before or creating a user-account. Thissynchronization of state between a CV monitoring system and a device orapplication can similarly be applied to devices in proximity to or, morepreferably, used by a user. For example, the system and method can beused to synchronize information with a publicly accessible kiosk whenthe human walks up and starts interacting with the kiosk. From theperspective of the human, the kiosk would seemingly automaticallyrecognize them and personalize the interactions. In one variation thismay be used in coordinating communication of user-record data such as acheckout list with store installed computing devices like a POS system.For example, a checkout list generated for a CV-person could becommunicated to a POS system when the CV-person becomes associated withthe POS system after the CV-person is within some spatial proximity ofthe POS system.

As one potential benefit, the system and method can enable dynamicmanagement of permissions for CV-based computing applications.Similarly, the system and method may additionally provide multiplefactors for establishing and validating associations usable in settingpermissions and authenticating identity. As shown in FIG. 1, a complexassociation topology could be formed using different associativemechanisms. A CV identification system could identify a human as “Bob”.Phone and a smart watch could be detected in one or more ways. Thedevices can be matched to a user-record that is associated with aCV-person. A user-account could be identified and linked based on theuser-account signed into the application instances. And a fingerprintscanner on a smart phone may be used to provide human identityassociation using a second form of biometric identification. Othersuitable topologies can similarly be formed.

As another potential benefit, the system and method can enable richerapplications within CV-based computing applications by synchronizingstate and data between a CV monitoring system, accounts, devices,and/applications. In some respects, this can enable public sensingsystems like the CV monitoring system to be used for private computinginteractions on a personal device. In another related potential benefit,this state and data sharing coordinated through the CV monitoring systemmay enable personalized use of public computing devices or smartdevices. These potentially real-time, personalized digital interactionscan happen as a result of the system while the CV monitoring systems arealso simultaneously offering such interactions across multiple humans asshown in FIG. 5.

As one isolated example of the rich interactions enabled by the systemand method, a shopper without having installed any application or setupan account can enter a store powered by a CV-based automatic checkoutsystem. By entering the store, a CV-person is established, and acheckout list can be built based on the actions of the shopper. Duringthe shopping experience, the shopper may learn of and install theapplication of this automatic checkout system. The system and methodcould automatically establish an association with that applicationinstance and synchronize the checkout list of that shopper to theirapplication. The shopper could then use the application to complete anautomatic checkout even though the shopper only learned of the system inthe middle of shopping. This example can exemplify one potential benefitof enhanced on-boarding.

As one potential benefit, the system and method can feasibly scale thenumber of CV-persons monitored. The number of CV-persons may be scaledindefinitely or scaled to a sufficiently high number to support thehumans present in the environment. This can be particularly important toshopping environments where hundreds of customers pass through theenvironment on a daily basis.

As another potential benefit, the system and method can provide enhancedprivacy and customization. The system and method can accommodate usercustomization of settings and management of data.

As a related benefit, the system and method can be flexible togracefully handle a variety of forms of associations. Different forms ofassociations may enable or direct different experiences within aCV-based computing application.

In a store CV-based computing application, the system and method couldestablish different forms of associations that accommodate a variety oftypes of users ranging from low-participation customers,moderate-participation customers, and high-participation customers.

As an example of a low-participation customer, Bob does not own a phoneand does not want to create an account. The system and method can stillbe used to create a checkout list for Bob and then synchronize thecheckout list to a self-service checkout kiosk or POS station where Bobcan pay through card, cash, or another mechanism. From Bob's perspectivethe checkout process is accelerated as a checkout list was transparentlyused to automatically update the checkout kiosk/POS station.

As an example of a medium-participation customer, Ellen may install anapplication and/or setup a payment mechanism with a user account.However, Ellen, preferring a simple experience, does not use theapplication in the store. The system and method can facilitate thecreation of a checkout list for Ellen, associating the checkout listwith her application instance and/or user account and then automaticallycharging the configured payment method when leaving the store. Deviceinstance association may be established transparently from the point ofview of Ellen when associating her device and thereby her user-accountto the user-record. Ellen may receive a checkout confirmation messageafter completing her shopping.

As an example of a high-participation customer, Angela may be a heavyuser of the application and setup a shopping list prior to entering thestore. Within the store, Angela likes to review the current total ofselected items, see the items from her shopping list not yet selected,and get information on where her next shopping list items are located.Information from the CV monitoring system can be synchronized inreal-time to Angela's application and interactions within theapplication can similarly be synchronized to the CV monitoring system.Like Ellen she may also have a payment mechanism setup so that she canleave with being automatically billed. The system and method can assistin coordinating these interactions for Angela.

The system and method may be applied to a variety of user experiencesand features. These examples are not intended to limit the system andmethod, which could be understood by one knowledgeable in the art.

2. System

As shown in FIG. 1, a system for personalized interactivity with ashared computer vision system of a preferred embodiment can include a CVmonitoring system 110 integrated with an imaging system 112. The CVmonitoring system 110 is preferably used within a computing platform 100managing a user interaction experience. The computing platform 100 willpreferably include a data management system 130 and other supplementarysystem elements of a computing platform 100, service, or application.The system may additionally include or interface with a user applicationand/or connected computing devices. In some variations, the system caninclude a proxy interface device 140.

A CV monitoring system 110 functions to process and generate conclusionsfrom one or more sources of image data. The CV monitoring system 110 canprovide: person detection; person identification; person tracking;object detection; object tracking; extraction of information from deviceinterface sources; gesture, event, or interaction detection; and/or anysuitable form of information collection using computer vision andoptionally other processing techniques. The CV monitoring system 110 ispreferably used to drive CV-based applications such as generation of acheckout list during shopping, tracking inventory state, tracking userinteractions with objects, controlling devices in coordination withCV-derived observations, and/or other interactions.

The CV monitoring system 110 preferably operates in connection to animaging system 112 installed in the environment. The imaging system 112functions to collect image data within the environment. The imagingsystem 112 preferably includes a set of image capture devices. Theimaging system 112 might collect some combination of visual, infrared,depth-based, lidar, radar, sonar, and/or other types of image data. Theimaging system 112 is preferably positioned at a range of distinctvantage points. However, in one variation, the imaging system 112 mayinclude only a single image capture device. The image data is preferablyvideo but can alternatively be a set of periodic static images. In oneimplementation, the imaging system 112 may collect image data fromexisting surveillance or video systems. The image capture devices may bepermanently situated in fixed locations. Alternatively, some or all maybe moved, panned, zoomed, or carried throughout the facility in order toacquire more varied perspective views.

A computing platform 100 functions to coordinate or otherwise executesome application, service, or workflow. In a preferred implementation,the computing platform 100 facilitates executing a digital userinteraction experience. For example, the computing platform 100 mayfacilitate a user interaction experience around or related to automatedcheckout and/or expedited checkout for customers. The computing platform100 may include local computing resources at the environment tocoordinate with devices present in the environment. The computingplatform 100 may additionally or alternatively be remote computingresources wherein local computing systems in the environment communicateand coordinate over the internet (or other communication channel) withresources of the computing platform 100.

The computing platform 100 preferably includes or otherwise interfaceswith the CV monitoring system 110, which functions to detect and modelCV-people and/or other CV-based information. The computing platform 100may additionally include or otherwise interface with one or moreassociative element monitoring system, which functions to establish anassociation with one or more associative element. The computing platform100 can additionally include a data management system 130, whichfunctions to manage and maintain user-records and/or user-accounts orother data modeling resources to support the objectives of the system.

The association monitoring system 120 functions as an associative orsynchronization mechanism to establish one or more forms of associationwith a human and/or a computing device. In some variations, theassociation monitoring system 120 is part of another system element suchas the CV monitoring system 110 and/or for an application service of thecomputing platform 100 to coordinate with a computing device instance(e.g., a user app). In other variations, the association monitoringsystem 120 can be an active sensing or interrogation system such as awireless communication system, an RF/NFC interrogator, Bluetooth beacon,an audio sensor system, a specialized CV monitoring submodule,specialized application service, or other suitable type of system. Inthe variations that use an application instance to detect a device, thesystem may include an application service which functions to managesubstantially real-time communication and interaction with applicationinstances installed and operating on a user's device. The system mayinclude one identification system, but may additionally include multipletypes of association monitoring systems 120 that can be used redundantlyor cooperatively.

A wireless communication system can function to monitor and detect thepresence of device signatures in the environment. Multiple wirelesscommunication units (e.g., Wi-Fi routers, RF/NFC interrogators, and thelike) can be positioned throughout the store. Their distributed locationcan be used to correlate the detection of a device signature with atleast an approximate location. Bluetooth beacons could be used in asimilar manner.

A specialized CV monitoring submodule can perform some form of CV-basedanalysis to assist in detecting. In one variation, this may includeperforming biometric identification or classification of CV-person. Onespecialized CV submodule could perform activity classification ormodeling for a CV-person which could be matched to motion patternsdetected from a special motion detection application service enabled ona device. In a similar manner, a CV monitoring submodule could detectparticular gestures performed by a user. Another specialized CVmonitoring submodule could detect visual patterns displayed by acomputing device. A variety of types of CV monitoring submodules may beuse.

An audio sensor system may function to detect audible signals in theenvironment. In one variation, audio signals detected by a computingdevice could be mapped to audio signals detected by microphonesinstalled throughout the store. This could be used in determiningapproximate location. In some instances, specialized and potentiallynearly inaudible signals could be output by the computing device and/orspeakers in the environment. Detection of these unique signals by thedevice and/or microphones distributed in the environment could functionto determine location and thereby selecting a candidate pool ofCV-people for a computing device.

The data management system 130 functions to store user-records and/oruser-account information. The system will generally include otherelements to support the CV-based computing application and/or to providea platform for CV-based computing applications implemented in multiplestores and/or for different use cases. The user-records and/oruser-accounts may be linked or otherwise pre-associated with one or moretypes of identifying associative elements. For example, CV-basedidentification of an individual may generate an identity signature thatis associated with a user-record. In another example, an identifier fora particular device instance may be associated with a user-record suchthat when that device instance is detected in the store, the mappeduser-record can be identified and accessed.

User Applications and/or connected computing devices function as clientdevices that may participate in CV-based computing applications. In apreferred implementation, a user application of the store and/oroperator of the CV monitoring system 110 can be made accessible to usersof the CV monitoring system 110 (e.g., customers of a store). The userapplication can facilitate associating a user-account, providingbiometric authentication through the device (e.g., fingerprint, voicerecognition, facial identification or other forms of biometricauthentication), collecting user input, and/or performing other tasks. Aconnected computing device can be computing devices that may beinstalled or provided within the environment. The connected computingdevices may be customer service kiosks or stations, networked smartdevices (e.g., smart lock, smart lights, etc.), a worker station, and/orany suitable computing devices.

A user application instance or a connected computing device arepreferably addressable endpoints within the system such that theCV-system or an alternative component can transmit data or informationcan be communicated to the user application instance or the connectedcomputing device. An SDK and/or API may be provided such that thirdparty applications can establish such integration with a CV monitoringsystem no and/or platform.

The system may additionally include computing devices installed withinthe environment. In one variation, the environment-installed computingdevices are configured and directly integrated with the system andcomputing platform such that they can be accessed and controlled atleast in part. In another variation, the system may include a proxyinterface device that functions as a gateway or edge device thatfacilitates communication and interactions with outside devices. In thisvariation, existing computing devices like a POS system could be usedwith the system without making direct changes to the existing computingdevices.

The proxy interface device 140 of a preferred embodiment functions to bea system controllable device/resource that interfaces withenvironmentally installed computing infrastructure. In some variations,the proxy interface device 140 impersonates an expected form of dataentry. A preferred variation of the proxy interface device 140 is usedto interface and augment an existing payment system. In one variation,the proxy interface device 140 is used expediting the checkout processby assisting in the entry of product information into an existing POSstation. In another variation, the proxy interface device 140 may beused in assisting in delivering pre-authorized payment mechanisms sothat a user could pay possibly without any explicit action (other thanperhaps confirming payment/purchase).

Interfacing with an environment-installed computing device and/or aproxy interface device 140 would have applications in other areas aswell. For example, in a restaurant, a digital ordering kiosk couldautomatically bring up a customized ordering interface (e.g., showingcustomer order history, starred items, personalized recommendations,loyalty reward options) based on CV-based identification of the user. Ina gym, a user may be able to walk up to a device distributed through thegym and a personalized user interface can be automatically presentedbased on CV-based identification of the user and/or previously trackedactivity in the gym. In an airport setting, a check-in kiosk could becontrolled to automatically enter ticket information. These and otherapplications could be implemented through the system and method using aproxy interface device 140 and/or directly connecting to the appropriatecomputing device.

A proxy interface device 140 preferably emulates an input device for atarget computing device. For example, the proxy interface device 140could be a keyboard or barcode scanner emulator (i.e., product entryemulator). The proxy interface device 140 may alternatively communicatedata that then uses an installed service to communicate with orotherwise interact with a target computing device.

A proxy interface device 140 preferably includes a communication moduleand a device interface module. The proxy interface device 140 mayadditionally be delivered as an attachment device encased within a bodystructure. The proxy interface device 140 may additionally includeadditional ports. In the checkout station use case, the proxy interfacedevice 140 can include a product entry interface module so that theproxy interface device 140 can be connected between a barcode scannerand a checkout station.

The proxy interface device 140 communicatively couples the system (morespecifically the CV-based monitoring system) with a computing device. Apreferred implementation, the computing device is a point-of-salecheckout station, but the communicatively coupled computing device couldbe any suitable type of computing device such as an informationalcomputing kiosk or computing devices for other purposes.

The communication module functions to allow the device to be remotelycontrolled. The communication module can preferably communicativelycouple with the CV-based monitoring system. The communication module ispreferably a wireless communication module where the wirelesscommunication module can include Wi-Fi communication module, a Bluetoothor RF communication module, a cellular communication module, or anysuitable type of communication module. The communication module couldadditionally be a wired communication module wherein the proxy interfacedevice 140 communicate over a wired or physical connection.

The communication module is preferably registered to the CV-basedmonitoring system. The communication module can additionally beregistered in association with a target computing device. The locationand/or target association could be registered during an enrollmentperiod. As part of the enrollment process, the proxy interface device140 could be registered and manually, automatically, orsemi-automatically associated with that location and connected computingdevice (e.g., a POS station). In one variation, the proxy interfacedevice 140 could include an active or passive identifier to announceitself to the CV monitoring system for registration and locationdetermination.

The device interface module, which functions to communicatively connector interface to one or more computing devices. In one variation thiscould be a wired connection. In one example, the proxy interface device140 connects to a POS station through a port typically used by a barcodescanner. In some implementations it may replace a connection of abarcode scanner. In other implementations it may be connected to the POSin addition to one or more barcode scanners. In another variation, theproxy interface device 140 and/or the computing platform more generallycan wirelessly communicate with a computing device like a checkoutstation.

The proxy interface device 140 may connect to a checkout station throughthe device interface module using a standard electrical interface like aUSB interface or other data port. The proxy interface device 140 andmore specifically the device interface module can generate and transmitthe appropriate electrical signals for communicating with the checkoutstation. Product entry module in a preferred implementation can transferthe universal product codes (UPCs) of the modeled checkout list. Forsome POS stations this can be UPCs communicated as simulated keyboardentries. These can be transferred in some serial sequence such that fromthe POS station it appears as rapidly entered products. The productentry emulator may additionally include an interface to one or moreproduct entry devices (like a barcode scanner or a keyboard) such thatthe product entry emulator can be used in line with such entry devicesas shown in FIG. 17.

The product entry interface module can be a corresponding communicationport to that used by the device interface module. This is preferablyused so that use of the proxy interface device 140 preserves the optionof the checkout station from using existing infrastructure like abarcode scanner. Accordingly, the product entry interface module couldbe a female USB port. Data received through this port may beautomatically relayed through the device interface module to theconnected computing device. Additionally or alternatively, data receivedthrough the product entry interface module can be captured and/oroptionally processed. In a preferred implementation, UPC data collectedthrough the product entry interface module can be relayed to theconnected checkout station, but also communicated to the computingplatform. This can be used as training data for CV, AI, and/or machinelearning algorithms. Especially since, product information receivedthrough the product entry interface module will generally occur whenthere was an exception or issue with generating a checkout list.

The proxy interface device 140 can preferably be encased in a rigidstructure. The proxy interface device 140 will additionally include amicroprocessor or other form of processing unit along with memory, powersystem, and/or other suitable elements. The proxy interface devices 140may be used for each checkout station. Alternatively, a single proxyinterface device 140 may interface and manage multiple checkoutstations.

The proxy interface device preferably includes user interface elements.The user interface elements are preferably provided to communicate witha user of the connected computing device. For example, the userinterface elements can function to facilitate conveying system state andoptionally collecting user input from a worker managing a POS station.User interface elements may additionally or alternatively be configuredfor use by other users like a customer.

In one preferred variation, the user interface elements include one ormore forms of a user interface output. A user interface output could bea visual output, an audio output, a tactile output, and/or any suitabletype of output.

A visual output could be some form of a visual indicators (e.g., LEDlights or gauges) or even a graphical display. In one implementation, anindicator light(s) could signal when a checkout list istransferred/received for updating a POS system. For example, the displaycould blink green when a customer's selected items are automaticallyentered into a POS station thereby signaling to the worker that they donot need to scan items for entry and proceed to finalizing payment.Additionally or alternatively, the visual output could indicate when acheckout list cannot be automatically entered, if part of the checkoutlist can/was entered, and/or any other suitable exception. In anotherimplementation, a graphical display could visually display the virtualcheckout items that were relayed or suggested for being relayed to a POSstation. The worker may even be requested to verify the list and selectan option to enter them into the POS station. Changes could be made if amistake was made. These changes could be relayed back to the CV-basedmonitoring system as feedback for quality control and monitoringenhancements.

An audio output could be used along with a visual output or by itself.An audio could be an audible tone or signal that triggers for differentevents. For example, there could be a tone or jingle that plays when acustomer with valid checkout list approaches the “primary position” ofthe POS station (i.e., the person/group ready for checkout) which canindicate to the worker that they can skip the scanning/entry of items.Similarly, a tone may play when a checkout list is not available or notvalid for entry, which can indicate to the worker that they shouldmanually enter items selected by the customer.

The user interface elements could similarly include user input elementslike buttons, dials, touch screens, microphone (for audio commands), andthe like. These may be used in various ways to allow the worker to inputinformation or communicate with the system. In one implementation, itemsare not automatically entered into a POS station until a workerpositively confirms the items for entry.

A preferred variation of the proxy interface device is one thatinterfaces with a POS station for the purposes of relaying iteminformation based on a checkout list generated by the CV-basedmonitoring system.

3. Method

As shown in FIG. 6, a method for linking observed human activity onvideo to a user-record within a computing platform used for managing auser interaction experience of a preferred embodiment can includedetecting and tracking a human as a CV-person within an environmentS110, establishing an association between the CV-person and at least oneassociative element S120, and directing the user interaction experienceat least in part based on the combination of the modeled person of thecomputer system and at least the user-record S130. Establishing anassociation between the CV-person and at least one associative elementS120 further comprises wherein the association with the associativeelement is thereby used in associating the CV-person and a user-recordlinked through the associative element. One or more associationmechanism can be used in detecting the associative element. The methodcan be applied to setting and enforcing permissions within the contextof the CV monitoring system S132, for synchronizing state at a deviceinstance with the CV monitoring system S134, and/or for controlling aconnected device within the environment in coordination with a CV-personand at least one associated element S136. The method is preferablyimplemented by a system as described above, but any suitable system mayimplement the method.

Block S110, which includes detecting and tracking a human as a CV-personwithin an environment, functions to establish a CV-person within anenvironment. Block S110 is preferably implemented through or inconnection with a CV monitoring system, which could be part of acomputing platform such as was described above. Detecting and tracking ahuman as a CV-person preferably includes collecting image data andapplying person detection computer vision processing to the image data.

Image data is preferably collected and then processed by the CVmonitoring system. When a human enters an environment with an operatingCV monitoring system, the CV monitoring system can acquire the human asa CV-person. That CV-person can be tracked during the human's time inthe environment. Continuous tracking may be maintained, but the systemcould additionally handle discontinuous tracking where tracking of aCV-person may be lost temporarily and then reacquired. Modeling of aCV-person is preferably abandoned, expired, or made inactive after theCV-person exits an environment.

Detection and tracking are preferably facilitated through variouscomputer vision approaches. In one implementation, tracking may beachieved through a visual “lock”, wherein movement between frames of adetectable CV-person can be tracked. A physics or modeling system can beintroduced to facilitate tracking the CV-person across frames and torecover when a user is temporarily or partially occluded.

Detection and tracking may additionally use human identification. Humanidentification can include biometric identification such as facialidentification, gait identification, voice identification and the like.Human identification may additionally include more generalcharacterizations of a human such as visual properties, clothingproperties, height and weight estimations, age estimation, and/orpossession properties (e.g., holding a bag, using an identifiableshopping cart, etc.). Human identification can be used to uniquelyidentify a human but may additionally be used to reduce the possiblecandidates of if not uniquely identifier the identities of humans withinan environment. Tracking a CV-person could use human identification toassist in reacquisition of that CV-person.

In addition to detecting and tracking of a CV person, the CV-system canadditionally provide additional CV-based analysis of the image data suchas object detection, object-human interaction detection/classification,human gesture detection, and/or other suitable forms of CV-basedmodeling based in part on the image data. For example, in a shoppingenvironment, the items selected by a CV-person and/or added to a cart ofa CV-person can be added to a checkout list, which can be modeled andstored in association with that CV-person. The CV monitoring system cansense and generate predicative models based on image data andsupplementary data sets (e.g., shopping history, user profileinformation, product information, etc.). The CV monitoring system mayadditionally work in combination with other sensing systems such as asmart shelving system with sensors, an RFID sensing system, 3D spatialsensing system, and/or any suitable type of environmental sensingsystem.

Block S120, which includes establishing an association between theCV-person and at least one associative element, functions to synchronizeand/or link a computer vision derived model of a human to at least oneother data model related to the human. Preferably, at least oneassociation is established to an associative element. This associativeelement may function as a human identifier or entity identifier. In somevariations, this human or entity identifier could be token-based (e.g.,like a device associated with the human), biological-based, orpattern-based (e.g., behavioral pattern detection). In general, themethod is preferably executed so as to establish an association with auser-record and/or user-account.

Block S120 may occur at any suitable time and/or place in theenvironment. Additionally, multiple types and/or instances ofassociations may be established for a particular human. In somevariations, multiple associations may be established at different times,which can work to provide multiple factors of identification and/or toappropriately augment the confidence of a mapping between a CV-personand a user-record. These associations can additionally act as additionalfactors in having high confidence in other associations like whenassociating a CV-person with environment-installed computing deviceslike a checkout station.

Establishing an association with a user-record and/or user-account ispreferably established through at least one identifying associativeelement like a device instance, application instance, and/or a humanidentifier. One or more associative mechanisms may be used to establishthe association. With an association established to an identifyingassociative element, the identifying associative element can be used toindirectly establish an association with an appropriate user-record oruser-account. The user-record or user-account can be stored and queriedusing a key, identifier, signature, or properties acquired from theidentifying associative element. Accordingly, block S120 will generallyinclude establishing an association between the computer vision modeledperson and at least one associative element and thereby associating thecomputer vision modeled person and a user-record linked through theassociative element. Effectively, the method establishes a three-elementassociation between: a CV-person; one or both of a user-record anduser-account; and at least one of a device instance, an applicationinstance, and/or a human identifier.

An association to a user-record, which may specifically be auser-account, can expand the understanding of a CV-person toplatform-managed data and/or to a historical record of the human entity.In an automated checkout implementation, payment information, shoppinghistory, personalized loyalty program rewards, and/or other informationmay be exposed for use in combination with CV modeled data.

An association to a user-record is preferably made in connection withsome identifying association such as with a device instance associationor association with human identity.

An association to a device instance (or in some variations anapplication instance) can facilitate identifying a human associateddevice. The association with the device instance may further enable acommunication link between the CV monitoring system and a device and/orapplication that is accessible to the corresponding human. Anassociation to a human identity may enable authentication of theidentity of the human corresponding to the CV-person. In one variation,an association to a human can be performed directly through CV-drivenanalysis of the CV-person. For example, biometric identification may beused. In another variation, authentication and more specificallybiometric authentication may be facilitated by an accessible computingdevice such as a personal computing device or kiosk using biometricauthentication.

Establishing an association with a CV-person can involve the use of oneor more associative mechanisms for establishing associations. Differentassociative mechanisms may have different levels of reliability,security, and/or be usable for adding associations to differentassociative elements. A subset of these associative mechanisms may beclassified as system initiated associative mechanisms and another subsetof associative mechanisms may be classified as user-initiatedassociative mechanisms. Establishing an association may involve includeexecuting variations of such associative mechanisms as shown in FIG. 7.

System-initiated associative mechanisms can leverage natural conditionswithout depending on some form of active user participation to work.System-initiated associative mechanisms can be used in automaticallyestablishing at least part of an association. They will generallyoperate in the background and may be transparent to a user.System-initiated associative mechanisms may be used in establishing anassociation automatically—possibly without active participation by ahuman at the time of association. Three potential types ofsystem-initiated associative mechanisms can be biometric, passive, andactive.

A biometric type of system-initiated associative mechanism preferablyuses biometric input collected in real-time from a CV-person in theenvironment. This biometric identification can preferably be performedremotely through the image data used by the CV monitoring system.Biometric identification may be used in combination with otherassociative mechanisms to increase the confidence in biometricidentification. For example, using device signature detection and/orgross device location information, the candidate pool of user identitiescan be reduced such that the confidence in biometric identification canbe made more resilient. A facial recognition CV process could beconfigured to identify a face out of a pool of 300 candidates near thestore location as opposed to millions of potential candidatesencountered at some time across many sites.

A passive type of system-initiated associative mechanism can be an“always on” technology that is typically exposed by a computing devicecarried by a human. These signals may be unique to each device or atleast provide distinguishing features within a limited sample ofdevices, and therefore can be used to form connections between devicesand CV-persons with a relatively high degree of certainty. Passiveassociative mechanisms may not establish a positively confirmedassociation in some situations since devices can be shared or stolen,but passive background device detection may be used to establish aprobabilistically likely association and/or to narrow the scope ofassociative elements for other association techniques like the automaticbiometric analysis above. Such signals can include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MACaddresses, cellular signature and the like. Such signals may not be 100%accurate associations because smart devices can be shared or stolen bydifferent humans. However, such signals can at least be useful withhumans during a single visit. They may additionally be useful devicesignatures for humans with a personal computing device but without aninstalled application and/or without a user-account. For example, ahuman without installing a user application on their smart device canhave a smart device passively facilitate associating a CV-person to adevice instance and by association a user-record with purchase historyand payment information.

An active type of system-initiated associative mechanism may be someuser installed or initiated technology, which, in some cases, canaffirmatively link CV-people with a computing device. This variation ofsystem-initiated associative mechanism may operate without explicitdevice usage by a human while in the store. However, they may depend oninstalling an application, installing or enabling a service. BluetoothLE beaconing, background app refresh, geofencing, GPS or relative GPS,other location services, and/or other device functionality may exposesignals by which a device could be detected and associated with auser-record or user-account.

Use-initiated associative mechanisms can include an associativemechanism dependent on user action. One variation can be device-basedinitiation. Other forms of user-initiated associative mechanisms can bevarious forms of user check-ins.

Some preferred associative mechanisms could include detecting a humanassociated device instance S121 and/or collecting real-time image dataof a CV-person in the environment and applying a form of biometricidentification S125, and/or receiving registration at a registrationdevice S126. Some preferred variations of detecting a human associateddevice instance S121 can include: detecting a device signature exposedby devices carried by a human S122, detecting a device usage-mechanismexplicitly or implicitly enabled by a user S123, and establishing anassociation during a pairing process of a device instance S124.

Block S121, which includes detecting a human associated device instance,functions to use the presence of an identifiable device to establish anassociation. Block S121 will generally involve: through a deviceidentification system, detecting a device instance coincident to theCV-person and then selecting a user-record by an identifier of thedevice instance. This functions to associate the CV-person, the deviceinstance, and the user-record. Here, the device instance could be somehuman identifiable device such personal computing device like a smartphone, a personal computer, a wearable computer, and the like. Thedevice instance could alternatively be an instance of an applicationinstalled on a device, a browser session, or any suitable clientdetectable and associated with a user. In some variations, the deviceinstance could be a shared environment-installed computing device. Ashared computing device will have shared usage by multiple users atdifferent instances. A shared computing device may be directly used bythe human when establishing the association (e.g., an informationalkiosk or self-checkout station). The shared computing device mayalternatively be used to serve a particular human when establishing theassociation (e.g., a worker-staffed checkout station).

Here, the condition of coincidence characterizes some form of associatedproximity, which could include spatial proximity and/or temporalproximity. A device instance may be spatially coincident when the deviceinstance is detected in a location that corresponds to a modeledlocation of the CV-person. Detection of a device is preferably isolatedto a particular region or location. This location can be mapped to acorresponding location in the environmental model of the CV-system. If aCV-person is detected in the corresponding location, an association canbe established between the device and the CV-person. Depending on thespatial resolution of either the device instance or the CV-person,different thresholds of proximity may be used. In some cases, grossspatial proximity (e.g., detected within 50 feet range of each other)can be sufficient such as when the pool of possible candidate pairingsof CV-people and device instances is not high. A device may betemporally coincident when the device instance is detected within asimilar time window. For example, if a device instance is detected inthe environment within one minute of detection of a CV-person then thosecould be paired.

In a crowded environment, device detection may occur at multiplelocations in an environment and a CV-person association to a deviceinstance can be established through longitudinal analysis of pastinstances of device detection. This can include looking at the trackedmovements of a device instance, analyzing the sets of candidate deviceinstances and CV-people, and/or using other suitable techniques. Forexample, a device may be detected at the entrance of a store. However,there may be multiple candidate CV-people so a confirmed association maynot be established initially. The same device instance may be detectedat a second location. Even if the number of candidate CV-people is stilllarge, the CV-people detected at the entrance and the second locationcan narrow the candidate CV-people.

Detecting a device instance may be used in identifying and selecting acorresponding user-record associated with the device instance. In onevariation, the device instance may provide some distinguishing key oridentifier by which a user-record stored in association with thatidentifier can be found and accessed. In this variation, the detectionof a device instance can be used to re-establish a previous user-record.This accessed user-record can be merged with or replace a currentassociated user-record.

Furthermore, a device instance may be used in establishing anassociation with a user-account. In some cases, the application instancemay be associated with a user-account (e.g., if a human has signed intotheir account within the application), wherein, establishing associationto a device instance will by association establish a user-accountassociation. Accordingly, using a device instance to establish anassociation with a user account may include authenticating auser-account at the device instance; selecting a user-record based onthe user-account authenticated on the device instance when the deviceinstance is detected. The computing platform will generally have accessto the device instance and therefore could map the user-account loggedinto the particular device instance with the CV-person.

Similarly, a device instance and/or an application instance canfacilitate human identification and so may be establish a validatedassociation with a human. This human association with the applicationinstance can be transferred to an association with a CV-person as well.For example, fingerprint identification, facial identification, voiceidentification, or other forms of biometric identification performedwithin the application instance can establish human identityassociation.

Detection of a device instance may be performed through a variety ofapproaches. As discussed above, the block S121 may include detecting adevice signature exposed by devices carried by a human S122, detecting adevice-usage mechanism explicitly or implicitly enabled by a user S123,and/or establishing an association during a pairing process of a deviceinstance S124.

Block S122, which includes detecting device signatures exposed bydevices carried by a human, functions to facilitate passive backgrounddevice detection. Passive background device detection is preferably usedin establishing an association to a device instance through exposedcommunication device signatures. Device signatures preferably includecommunication signals from a device that are generally unique to adevice and therefore can be used to form associations between a deviceinstance and a CV-person. A device signature can be detectableproperties or identifiers exposed over Wi-Fi, over Bluetooth, throughMAC addresses, through cellular signals, and/or other exposed emissions.Block S122 can preferably operate as a system-initiated associativemechanism, and may be used to assist providing enhancement functionalityto users even if they are not registered or enrolled with auser-account. As a user-initiated association, the user may set someoption to enable (or disable) the user of device signatures. If a deviceinstance was previously associated with a device-record or morepreferably a user-account, then the device signature can be used inestablishing associations to other associative elements. Block S123,which includes detecting device usage mechanisms explicitly orimplicitly enabled by a user, functions to facilitate user-enabledbackground device detection. There are various options that, whenactivated by a user, will facilitate automatic establishment ofassociations. In one variation, a user may explicitly enable geofencingto automatically detect when they enter a store. In another variation, auser may implicitly enable a detection mechanism by registering auser-account to access Wi-Fi in the environment. In another variation, auser may enable kinematic monitoring for synchronizing human motion toCV-person motion. These options may depend on a user installing anapplication and/or enabling or confirming particular device permissions.

User-enabled background device detection can be performed substantiallysimilar to passive background device detection described above. However,user-enabled background device detection may use detection approacheslike Bluetooth LE beaconing, background app refresh, geofencing, LEDpositioning, GPS, relative positioning in the environment, and the like.

With techniques like Bluetooth beaconing and geofencing, the system maybe actively notified when the device instance is present in theenvironment. With knowledge of the presence of a device instance, thatdevice instance and previously associated humans, user-accounts, and/oruser-records may become candidates for associations with a CV-person.

When using Bluetooth beaconing, detecting the device instance caninclude detecting location and/or presence of an identifiable deviceinstance. The location information can be matched to CV-people withcorresponding locations as shown in FIG. 8. When Bluetooth beaconing isused in multiple locations, a CV-person can be mapped to and associatedwith a device instance when there is a unique correspondence ofcoincidence across a set of detection events. When there is only oneCV-person in the region of a first beacon during a first detectionevent, then the detected device instance and CV-person can beassociated. When there are multiple people during multiple detectionevents, a CV-person can be associated with the device instance if theCV-person is the uniquely present CV-person in the regions of thevarious beacons at the time of the detection events.

When using location detection, detecting the device instance can includedetecting location of a device instance within the environment, andassociating the device instance to a CV-person modeled with acorresponding location as shown in FIG. 9. Multiple samples of locationand/or the change in location can additionally be used. In a mannersimilar to the Bluetooth beaconing approach, sampling across manyregions can be used to reduce a pool of candidate CV-people down to oneselected CV-person.

In a kinematic monitoring variation, the method may include, at thedevice instance, sensing device motion and/or orientation. This devicemotion and/or orientation can then be used in a variation where blockS123 includes detecting an associated device instance with device motionthat satisfies a synchronization condition with activity of theCV-person. In other words, motion of the device instance is matched toCV-person motion. An inertial measurement unit which can includeaccelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers (for direction), and/or othersensors may detect motion like walking motion, stops and stops, handmotion, body orientation changes, and the like. By comparing theseactions to motion and orientation properties of a CV-person, a CV-personcan be linked to a corresponding device instance. Use of motion as asynchronization mechanism may be dependent primarily on coincidence intime and may not factor in location though location can additionally beused.

In one variation, establishing an association may initiate confirming ofthe association, which functions to trigger user affirmation toestablish an association. Confirming an association can includerequesting confirmation through communication to a human (generallythrough a device instance). In one variation, an association may includea confirmed or possible association to a device instance. That deviceinstance may have a communication address (e.g., phone number,application instance identifier, push notification endpoint, etc.). Amessage or notification can be transmitted to the communication address,and a human can confirm or deny the request. Upon receiving affirmativeconfirmation, the method can proceed with establishing the association.In another variation, the possible association may involve a user-recordor a user-account, which may have a configured communication addresslike a phone number of application instance identifier. A message ornotification can be similarly transmitted.

Confirmation may request explicit confirmation by a human. For example,a human may receive a text message saying, “Looks like you are at thesupermarket. Replay 1 for yes and 2 for no”. A confirmation mayalternatively notify a human but require explicit denial tocancel/prevent the association. For example, a human may receive a pushnotification saying “Enjoy your shopping experience today! Select cancelif you received this in error”. A confirmation may alternatively beautomatically approved if a human selects a user-account option to notconfirm new sessions. Confirmation could similarly be applied beforeperforming particular interactions that depend on an establishedassociation. For example, a user may receive a push notification on anapplication asking if they want to automatically push checkout listinformation to a checkout station when they are within proximity.

Block S124, which includes establishing an association during a pairingprocess of a device instance, functions to have a device or morepreferably an application facilitate establishment of an association. Insome variations, a physical computing device may be designed to enter apairing mode or continuously perform some pairing action. The pairingmode may be configured to generate an identifying signal through a userinterface output of the device instance. As will be described below, thegraphical display and speakers may both generate signals usable todetect a device. Similarly, sensed data may be collected and used duringthe pairing mode. In other variations, an application instance installedon a user device can be actively involved in performing actions that mayenable unique detection of that application instance by the CV-systemand thereby be associated with a CV-person. Herein, the pairing processof an application instance is described but it similarly applies to adevice instance.

The pairing process is preferably initialized when the applicationinstance becomes active (e.g., is brought into the foreground of a modaloperating system). Activation of the application instance can result inthe application instance registering the pairing state of theapplication instance with the CV monitoring system such that the CVmonitoring system can begin to cooperatively establish an association.Once in the pairing mode, one or more signaling mechanisms may be used.The examples of signaling mechanisms can include use of a camera, adisplay or visual output, an audio system, an inertial measurement unit(IMU), application interactions, and/or stored data.

As shown in FIG. 10A, an application instance can use the camera of thecomputing device to capture an image that can then be used to determineposition. In one variation, various visual identifiers (e.g., a QR codeor data encoded image) can be positioned throughout the store. Capturingimage data from the application can be used to determine the position ofthe human operating the application when the image data contains thevisual identifier. In a related variation, the human operator of theapplication may be directed to take a picture of a cart of selecteditems or some other artifact, which can be used as an identifier.

In another variation, the camera may be activated in the background withthe goal of observing the scene. This activation of the camera may bebased on detected orientation of the device (e.g., is the device beingheld up by human). Observations of the scene can act as a visualsignature that can be mapped to images captured by the CV monitoringsystem as another approach to locating the device within theenvironment. For example, an application instance may capture imageswhile the user is using the application. If an image of a shelf of itemsis captured, that image can be used to determine the location of theuser within the store and thereby associate the application instancewith a CV-person. Visual identifiers may be integrated into theenvironment such as on the ground, ceiling, shelving, walls, and thelike to enhance mapping of visual signatures and positioning within theenvironment.

As shown in FIG. 10B, an application instance can use the display orother mechanisms for visual output in pairing an application instancewith a CV-person. In a preferred variation, the display of a smartdevice can be set to display a visual identifier. The visual identifiercan be a static graphic but could alternatively be a time variablevisual display. When displaying the visual identifier, the applicationinstance communicates with the system so that detection of that visualidentifier by the CV-system can be associated with the applicationinstance. The imaging system used by the CV monitoring system willpreferably be able to identify the displayed identifier and map anappropriate CV-person to the application instance. A visual identifiercould alternatively be produced by other device elements such as an LEDlight.

As shown in FIG. 10C, an application instance can use the audio outputin pairing an application instance with a CV-person. An audio signal isgenerated with a unique identifier. Detection of that audio signal canthen be used to determine location and then used in selecting candidateCV-people. The audio signal is preferably in a frequency range on theedge or beyond the hearing range of a human, but could also be a soundaudible by a human. In one variation, the application instance generatesthe audio signal and microphones distributed within the environment candetect the audio signal. The microphones are associated with a generalregion within the environment or may be used in triangulating a moreprecise location. In another variation, speakers distributed across theenvironment generate audio signals that can be detected by anapplication instance. Each speaker preferably produces a unique audiosignal such that the detected audio signal can be mapped to a positionedspeaker and/or a location. Detection of multiple audio signals may beused to triangulate a more precise location.

As shown in FIG. 10D, an application instance can use movement of thedevice as detected by an inertial measurement unit in pairing anapplication instance with a CV-person. The inertial measurement unit caninclude a digital accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and the like.During a pairing mode, the movements, orientation, and/or direction canbe monitored to establish human movements. The CV monitoring system cansimilarly detect CV-person movements for candidate CV-people. CV-peoplewith corresponding movement patterns at a similar time can be associatedwith the device instance.

As shown in FIG. 10E, an application instance can use applicationinteraction as a mechanism for pairing an application instance with aCV-person. An application interaction may be used by detecting humanoperation of the application and using the CV monitoring system todetect candidate CV-people performing similar actions. Applicationinteraction may be used passively, which preferably use normalinteractions with the application instance as CV-detectable actions. Forexample, the application instance may require a human to perform acheck-in action to use an automatic self-checkout feature. The act ofpulling out a smart device and pressing a check-in button on theapplication instance can be detected as actions performed by aCV-person. Additionally, the timing of activating the check-in button asdetected by the application instance can be used to determine CV-peopleperforming that action in synchronization with that act.

During a pairing mode of the application instance, block S120 caninclude directing a physical action by the user and detecting acorresponding physical action of the CV-person. In matching the sensedmotion at the device instance to modeled motion of the CV-person, thedevice instance can be associated with the CV-person. For example,Application interactions may be actively directed by the applicationinstance where an application instance instructs a human to perform someaction or gesture such as waving his or her hand, holding out the smartdevice, pointing at an object, or any suitable action. These humangestures may be more detectable than interactions with the applicationinstance. The timing of the actions can be orchestrated by theapplication instance. Additionally, the nature of action may becontrolled and changed to help in establishing the association. Forexample, different types of actions may be directed so that the type aswell as location and timing can better establish an association withhigh confidence. Device movement as discussed above can similarly beused in combination with directed actions.

Establishing an association during a pairing process of a deviceinstance may additionally or alternatively use collected informationfrom the application instance. When a pairing mode is activated,preferably by the human, then the system may begin using storedinformation associated with the application instance and/or account toestablish an association. As one specific example, if a customer hasentered a shopping list into an application, then the CV monitoringsystem can compare that shopping list to the checkout lists of currentCV-people. A CV-person detected to have some subset of the shopping listmay be associated with that application instance as shown in FIG. 10F.Shopping history, favorited products, and/or other information cansimilarly be used.

Block S125, which includes collecting real-time image data of aCV-person in the environment and applying a form of biometricidentification, functions to facilitate automatic biometric analysis ofa CV-person. A variety of types of biometric identification techniquesmay be used such as facial identification, gait identification, retinaidentification, physical property identification (e.g., height, weight,gender, etc.), and/or other forms of biometric identification. Biometricanalysis may be used to establish a human association when a uniquehuman identity is determined. Automatic biometric analysis mayadditionally establish associations with other associative elements likea user-record.

As an alternative or additional approach to biometric identification,biometric identification sensing capabilities of a computing device maybe used when a computing device can be communicatively coupled andassociated with a CV-person (e.g., using one of the approaches above).This variation can include, at the device instance, receiving biometricidentification; and associating human identity confirmation with themodeled person and user-record. Receiving biometric identification canact to confirm or specify the human identify of the current user of thecomputing device. Receiving biometric identification could includechecking a fingerprint, facial pattern, voice, vital sign (e.g., heartrate, respiration rate), and/or any suitable biometric identification.These may be provided on a personal computing device or some sharedcomputing device like a check-in kiosk in the environment.

Block S126, which includes receiving registration at a registrationdevice, functions to establish an association during active registrationof a user-record, user-account, human, and/or application instance. Theregistration device can be a kiosk or check-in station installed in theenvironment. The human will preferably perform some interaction with theregistration device to establish an association. The mode of registeringat the registration device can take many forms such as swiping/scanninga card (e.g., a payment card), presenting NFC device, QR code or barcodescanning, biometric scanning, entering of account credentials, enteringa pin code, and/or any suitable action. A registration device couldadditionally include biometric sensors for establishing humanassociations. Some of these registration techniques may not requirepossession of a device instance and/or other physical tokens. This mayprovide an option for humans that want to participate in the systemwithout using a physical device. Location of the registration device(s)and proximity of a CV-person during the time of registration can be usedto associate with a CV-person. In one alternative, the method may useregistration regions where some registration can occur without aphysical registration device.

The mechanism for establishing an association can be one or more of themechanisms described herein. In some cases, multiple associationmechanisms are used in combination to narrow a pool of candidateCV-people to a single confirmed CV-person. The method can additionallyredundantly confirm associations as a form of multi-factorauthentication to enhance accuracy, reliability, and/or security. In onevariation, establishing an association can include progressivelyattempting a sequence of association mechanisms. When one associationmechanism does not succeed, a backup association mechanism can be used.The sequence of association mechanisms may start off with less intrusiveuser experiences and then escalates to association mechanisms withhigher reliability but possibly more reliance on human participation. Inone example shown in FIG. 11, establishing an association to anapplication instance can initialize by passively using the location ofthe application instance and identification of a displayed staticgraphic. If an association is not established, then the application mayescalate to displaying an animated graphic with instructions to holdtheir phone outwards with display up. If an association is notestablished again the application instance can start an audible jinglewhile flashing an LED light. If an association is still not established,the application instance can direct the user to use a check-in station.From the user perspective, this pairing process can be presented as aseamless pairing process that slowly builds up. Ideally, an associationis established quickly so that most users do not experience the moreobvious association mechanisms.

There may also be different modes of associations that may depend on theassociative elements, mechanism for establishing associations, and/oruser selected options. There could be an anonymous association where aCV-person is treated as a generic user. There could be an incognitoassociation mode, where information and capabilities enabled byassociations to a user-record, user-account, application record, and/ora human may be used but where the session is not committed to the datarecords of those associations within the system. There could also bevarious forms of confirmed identity associations. For example, anassociation can be an association with confirmed human-identity whereinsecure permissions can be enabled such as those that traditionallyrequire review of form of physical identification.

Associations are preferably established prior to performing some actionrequiring permission confirmed through the association. In a preferredimplementation, associations are established in response to nearing orentering an environment. However, the method can support retroactivelyapplying an association. As an illustration of the flexibility inestablishing an association, the method can support establishing anassociation immediately prior to the human entering the store and beingacquired as a CV-person, immediately before a transaction during anautomatic self-checkout, and/or in conjunction with the transaction.Associations can additionally be built up during the duration of thetime that the human is in the environment, wherein establishing anassociation can include wherein establishing an association throughmultiple associative mechanisms performed at different locations andtimes in the environment. For example, a CV-person may initially beassociated with a user record, then an application instance can be addedand then a human association. Associations can additionally happen aftera CV-person has left the store where actions like a billing transactioncan happen in absentia. This can even happen over multiple visits to theenvironment by a human. For example, a shoplifter that later creates auser-account may have previous activities and illicit behaviorretroactively associated with the new user-account.

Block S130, which includes directing the user interaction experience atleast in part based on the combination of the modeled person of thecomputer system and at least the user-record functions to apply theestablished association in augmenting one or more process of theCV-based computing system. Once an association is established theinformation and capabilities of the different associated elements may beused cooperatively. At some level, block S130 is used to coordinate themodeled state of a CV-person with state at another associated element.

A CV-person association can use data in enhancing CV processing of imagedata and similarly extract information that can be provided toassociative elements.

A user-record and/or user-account can accept information from otherassociated elements in building up a data profile. The information ofthe user-record and/or user-account can be used in enhancing operationof the CV-system and/or other devices such as an application instance ora connected device within the environment.

A device or application association may be able to use the extractedinformation from the CV monitoring system. The device and applicationwill additionally have some state or data that can be synchronized withassociated elements. The device or application can also expose aninterface for receiving user input or using other device features suchas the camera, biometric authentication elements, and the like. A deviceassociation can additionally enable a token-based form of authenticationfor setting privileges.

A human association preferably provides a biometric factor ofauthentication, which can be used to enable various permissions andprivileges. A human association can preferably provide a more humanspecific level of authentication than a device or applicationassociation.

An association is preferably applied by exposing data and/or state of atleast one associative element to a second associative element. Withinthe automatic self-checkout use case, an association of a CV-person to auser-record can expose data records stored in connection to theuser-record such as shopping history, payment information, and usersettings. Having access may enable automatic billing of detected actionsof a CV-person during a checkout transaction. Shopping history, shoppinglists, and/or other information can similarly be accessed and used bythe CV monitoring system to enhance CV-based predictions. User settings,configuration, and preferences may be set in association with auser-account. However, even anonymous users with only a user-record canhave the option of setting personalized configuration such as privacysettings. For example, any user may be enabled to approach a deviceinstance installed in the environment such as a help kiosk or checkoutkiosk, and in synchronizing the user-record with the state of thatdevice instance settings linked to that user-record can be modifiedwhile the user is present at that device instance.

Three preferred variations of directing the user interaction experiencecan include enforcing permissions set through the association S132,synchronizing state at a device instance with the CV monitoring systemS134, and/or controlling a connected device within the environment incoordination with a CV-person and at least one associated element S136.

Block S132, which includes enforcing permissions set through theassociation, functions to enable, disable, or alter functionality incoordination with properties of association. Different associativeelements and/or modes of establishing an association can be used to setpermissions for an interactive experience. Accordingly, permissions canbe set in based in part on properties of established associations. Inone variation permissions are based on the association topology. Forexample, some permission may depend on validated human identity orvalidated device instance detection. In other variations, permissionsmay be set for particular associative elements such that establishing anassociation with that associative element can enable that permissionsetting. Setting a permission can include granting or withholding apermission/privilege setting.

Permissions within a CV-based computational application for commerce canbe used to enable purchases of controlled substances like alcohol,tobacco, firearms, medications, limited purchase items (e.g.,pseudoephedrine), and other items. Permissions can also be used forbusiness practice restrictions such as limiting a customer to purchasinga specified number of a sales item. Permissions can also be used inother use cases to restrict or permit access to different regions of theenvironment, interaction with different objects, automatic security lineprocessing, or regulating any action observed through the CV monitoringsystem.

In one implementation, some subsets of permissions may additionallyinclude human validation. For example, the use of controlled substancesmay require worker validation of an identification document such as adriver's license. The setting of these privileges once established canbe maintained for a set duration such as while the human is within theenvironment. For example, a shopper may be alerted to show their ID to aworker after they add alcohol to their cart. Similarly, a worker couldbe notified of a shopper that has a pending validation, and the workercould be directed to the shopper to complete validation. Checking an IDis one illustrative example of temporarily attaching a permission to anassociation. Permissions can additionally be validated by automaticallyvalidating credentials. For example, a driver's license can be scanned.Additionally, the facial imagery of the license can be compared tofacial biometrics of the CV-person. As another option, a physical tokensuch as an RFID card key could be used to validate credentials. Otherforms of permissions and validation processes can similarly be used.

As one exemplary process supporting commerce involving controlledsubstances, a multi-stage process can establish verified identitythereby enabling associations with validated permissions. The processcan be used in combination with the method of the preferred embodimentand can include: receiving a document of human identification, promptingpermission validation, receiving validation of human identification, andattaching that validation to an associative element as shown in FIG. 12.When an association is later confirmed with that associative elementthen that CV-person can be granted permissions to perform actionsrequiring those permissions such as purchase alcohol. In one variation,the permissions are attached to a human association wherein biometricidentification of the human is needed to permit purchase of controlledsubstances. In another variation, the permissions can be attached tophysical token such as an application instance or RFID card.

Receiving a document of human identification preferably includesreceiving an image or taking a picture of the document. For example, auser can use an application to take a picture of the front and back of adriver's license. Automatic validation of the document may be applied.Then the application may instruct the human to validate the document onthe next visit to enable the permissions. The worker can then performhuman-level validation of the document of human identification andapprove the permission validation from a worker-controlled system.

In one implementation, a subset of permissions may be validated once andused during subsequent sessions. In some cases, the permissions can bepreserved indefinitely, while in other cases, the permissions may expirebased on certain conditions. One-time validation can similarly use theapproaches discussed above. Once validated, permissions can be added toa user-record for subsequent use.

Permissions can additionally be conditionally revoked or reduced basedon rules for maintaining associations. Basic rules may be set based onvarious conditions. For example, an association may expire after acertain amount of time. Permissions could alternatively be revoked basedon CV-based detection of different conditions. For example, detection ofa CV-person exhibiting unusual behavior (e.g., irregular behavior,elevated noise, excessive disruption to objects), consuming a number ofdrinks above a threshold, or crossing do-not cross lines may be used indetecting intoxication in which case permission for a purchase ofcontrolled substances can be revoked. This could potentially be used toautomatically enable alcoholic beverages to be sold while adhering tolaws and regulations. Other exemplary conditions may be based on theaccount balance or state of payment information. Revocation and/orreduction of permissions may be permanent, restored through an externalevent, and/or restored after some passage of time or another condition.

Block S134, which includes synchronizing state at a device instance withthe CV monitoring system, functions to relay information between adevice instance and a CV monitoring system. This synchronization withthe CV monitoring system preferably synchronizes data specific to theCV-person and/or device instance. Data and information can flow in onedirection from one associative element to another, but data andinformation could similarly flow in multiple directions betweenassociative elements. As the CV monitoring system will preferably beused simultaneously by multiple distinct humans, this synchronizationenables personalized interaction with the CV monitoring system whilesimultaneously sharing the CV monitoring system with multiple users.

In one variation, information from the device instance or applicationinstance can be synchronized with the CV monitoring system to enhance CVanalysis, alter business logic, and/or otherwise alter the interactiveexperience for a human. This variation may include receiving user inputcommunicated from the device instance, and then executing the userinteractive experience based in part on the combination of modeled stateof the CV monitoring system and the user input.

In another variation, information generated by the CV monitoring systemcan be communicated to the application instance. In this variation,block S134 can include communicating modeled state of the CV monitoringsystem to the device instance. For example, the checkout list of aCV-person could be communicated to an application instance. In somecases, the method can support conflict resolution between a CVmonitoring system model and user application model. For example, if auser deletes a product from a checkout list from a user application, butthe CV monitoring system still predicts the user possesses that object,some rule may be used to resolve the conflict.

Block S136, which relates to S134 and includes coordinating with asecondary device, functions to control an environment-controlled devicein response to an association and the CV-person. This is a variation ofblock S134 where the computing device is a secondary computing devicepresent in the environment. The secondary device can be a kiosk,computing station, networked smart device (e.g., smart lock, smartlights, smart scales, etc.), and/or any suitable computing device. Thesecondary device is generally a device installed and provided by theenvironment such that there is no human-specific association (i.e.,multiple humans may interact with the secondary device). Block S136 caninclude detecting the secondary device in proximity of the CV-person andsynchronizing state between the association of the CV-person and thesecondary device. As with Block S134, this may include communication ofstate and data to and from the secondary device as shown in FIG. 13. Thesecondary device can be detected based on spatial proximity. In onevariation a proxy interface device may be used as an accessiblecomputing device to interface with a target computing device (e.g., acheckout station) as shown in FIG. 14. The secondary device proximitymay alternatively depend on detecting interaction with the secondarycomputing device and then identifying a predicted CV-person responsibleof that interaction.

Coordinating interactions with a secondary device can be used to enablefunctionality where a human can approach a computing device and thedevice can automatically customize its state for the human. This maysimilarly be used for automatically logging-in to a user account basedon the permissions. But can additionally facilitate interactions where auser without a user-account can walk up to a kiosk, and the kioskautomatically provides information obtained by the CV-system. Similarly,a user could provide input to the CV monitoring system as actionsperformed through the secondary computing device can be communicated tothe CV monitoring system as input uniquely associated with that human.

In one use case this may be used to automatically communicate agenerated checkout list associated with a user-record to a checkoutstation. In another use case this could be used to automaticallycommunicate payment mechanism credentials to execute a financialtransaction as shown in FIG. 14.

In practice the method is preferably executed throughout the time ahuman is present in the environment. Accordingly, when the human entersthe environment subject to monitoring by the CV monitoring system, aCV-person can be detected. In one variation, detection of a CV-personcan trigger an association establishment process. If an association canbe established and if that can be used to select an existinguser-record/user-account, then that can be associated with and used forthat CV-person. If an association cannot be established or if nouser-record/user-account exists for an associative element, then a newdefault user-record can be created and used. In the event a laterestablished association, identified a previously unknown user-record oruser-account, then the current user-record can be reconciled with thenewly established one. In one implementation, multiple user-records anduser-accounts may be maintained separately until some condition triggersmerging/reconciliation. In some cases, an association may be establishedwith low confidence and therefor merging a linked user-record may beundesirable until more confidence is established. Greater confidence inuser-record/user-account associations can be established through morerobust associative mechanisms and/or when multiple associations indicatesimilar associations.

In general, establishing an association may be performed as a personenters an environment. However, the method may similarly be appliedacross an environment such that modeling of a person can be resilient tointerruptions in tracking of a CV-person. For example, a shopper mayhave selected items monitored after entering the store. Tracking of thatperson may be interrupted when the shopper enters an unmonitored spacesuch as a bathroom. When the shopper reenters a monitored space, thereestablishment of an association with an identifying associativeelement can enable the previous user-record to be bridged to this newCV-person.

The method is preferably applied across multiple participantssimultaneously such that associations are appropriately created fordifferent people in the environment. As shown in FIG. 16, the methodwhen applied across multiple participants could alternatively bedescribed as including: detecting multiple CV-people S210, detectingmultiple associative elements through at least on associative mechanism,S220, establishing associations by matching a CV-person and anassociative element S230, and directing user interaction based oncombined data modeling state of a set of associated elements S240. Thevariations described above for blocks S110, S120, and S130 can similarlybe applied in this approach. The filtering of candidate CV-people andidentifying associative elements can be facilitated by performingmultiple instances of establishing an association. Differentassociations performed using different mechanisms, at different times,and at different locations can act to isolate unique matches between aCV-person and identifying associative elements. In practice, a computingplatform is simultaneously monitoring the environment for potentialassociations. When one is found the computing platform evaluates thatassociation to identify candidate associations and potentially uniquepairings of associative elements. A longitudinal history of candidateassociations can be evaluated along with new candidate associations,which may facilitate resolving to a single unique association.

The above variations of the method could similarly be applied.Furthermore, different techniques may be applied for different userswithin an environment depending on different scenarios. For example, oneuser may have one associative mechanism employed to establish one ormore associations, while a second user may have a second associativemechanism employed to establish a different set of associations.

The systems and methods of the embodiments can be embodied and/orimplemented at least in part as a machine configured to receive acomputer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions. Theinstructions can be executed by computer-executable componentsintegrated with the application, applet, host, server, network, website,communication service, communication interface,hardware/firmware/software elements of a user computer or mobile device,wristband, smartphone, or any suitable combination thereof. Othersystems and methods of the embodiment can be embodied and/or implementedat least in part as a machine configured to receive a computer-readablemedium storing computer-readable instructions. The instructions can beexecuted by computer-executable components integrated with apparatusesand networks of the type described above. The computer-readable mediumcan be stored on any suitable computer readable media such as RAMs,ROMs, flash memory, EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives,or any suitable device. The computer-executable component can be aprocessor, but any suitable dedicated hardware device can (alternativelyor additionally) execute the instructions.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the embodiments of the invention without departing fromthe scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: through a computer vision monitoringsystem, detecting and tracking a human as a computer vision modeledperson within an environment, the computer vision monitoring systembeing part of a computing platform managing a user interactionexperience; through at least one associative mechanism, establishing anassociation between the computer vision modeled person and at least oneassociative element and thereby associating the computer vision modeledperson and a user-record linked through the associative element; anddirecting the user interaction experience at least in part based on thecombination of the modeled person and at least the user-record.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein establishing the association comprises of,through an association monitoring system, detecting a device instancewith coincident proximity to the modeled person and selecting auser-record by an identifier of the device instance, thereby associatingthe modeled person, the device instance, and the user-record.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising authenticating a user-account inthe device instance; and wherein selecting a user-record in associationwith the device instance comprises selecting a user-record based on theuser-account authenticated on the device instance when the deviceinstance is detected.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein directing theuser interaction experience comprises synchronizing state at the deviceinstance with state of the computer vision monitoring system.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, wherein directing the user interaction experiencecomprises communicating modeled state of the CV monitoring system to thedevice instance.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising, at thecomputing platform, receiving user input communicated from the deviceinstance; and wherein directing the user interaction experiencecomprises executing the user interactive experience based in part on thecombination of modeled state of the computer vision monitoring systemand the user input.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the deviceinstance is an application instance operable on a personal computingdevice.
 8. The method of claim 2, wherein the device instance is acomputing device with shared usage in the environment.
 9. The method ofclaim 2, wherein detecting the device instance comprises detecting adevice signature.
 10. The method of claim 2, wherein detecting thedevice instance comprises detecting location of a device instance withinthe environment.
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein detecting the deviceinstance comprises entering the device instance into a pairing modeconfigured to generate an identifying signal through a user interfaceoutput in the device instance.
 12. The method of claim 2, whereindetecting the device instance comprises, at the device instance,directing a physical action of the user and detecting a correspondingphysical action of the modeled person and thereby associating the deviceinstance with the modeled person.
 13. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising, at the device instance in communication with the computingplatform, sensing device motion and wherein establishing an associationbetween the computer vision modeled person and at least one associativeelement comprises detecting the associated device instance with devicemotion that satisfies a synchronization condition with computer visionmodeled person activity.
 14. The method of claim 2, further comprisingat the device instance receiving biometric identification; andassociating human identity confirmation with the modeled person anduser-record.
 15. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing associationfurther comprises biometrically identifying a human through the computervision system and associating a human identity with the modeled person.16. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing the association isestablished through multiple instances of established associations atdifferent locations and times in the environment.
 17. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising, prior to establishing an association,requesting confirmation of the association of a device instance, andestablishing the association upon receiving affirmative confirmation ofthe association.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprising: throughthe computer vision monitoring system, detecting and tracking a secondhuman as a second computer vision modeled person within the environment;establishing an association between the second computer vision modeledperson and at least a second associative element and thereby associatingthe second computer vision modeled person and a second user-recordlinked through the second associative element; and directing a seconduser interaction experience at least in part based on the combination ofthe second modeled person and at least the second user-record.
 19. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user-record is an anonymous user-record.20. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-record is a user-accountwith user managed authentication credentials.